IMPERIAL CORONATION (Benz) tet 36" M. Ev. (Double Agent X Tet. Brent Gabriel) IMPERIAL CORONATION is simply the most beautiful purple double we have seen, either tetraploid or diploid—but it is only a semi-double. We selected 2 beautiful purple doubles from a long run of this cross. Both the amount of doubling and the intensity of color in the seedlings surprised me, and IMPERIAL CORONATION has proven to be the best of these sibs for beauty of bloom and total plant. These big 5 1/2-6" blooms are nearly always double or semi-double and seldom exhibit a single bloom here. A striking snow-white picotee edge further embellishes these exotic royal purple blooms. Scapes are grand, with 3 to 4 laterals, and an established plant will exhibit perfectly placed branching with 3-4 blooms open at a time, "Queen-of-show" style. Bud-count can soar as high as 35 once established. Both color and substance exceed most of my line-bred purples and these blooms are little affected by full sun on even the hottest days. Blooms are extremely wide, and petals stretch the ruler at 3 1/2". IMPERIAL CORONATION is sunfast here even in 90 degree full sun and carries across the garden like few in this color range. Foliage is fully evergreen, but tough and winter hardy here in Ohio, Plants are large and very beautiful, with emerald green leaves heavily streaked with cerise-red about one third of the way up. Fragrant and fertile both ways, but a difficult pod-parent in full sun. I have just begun using the pollen of IMPERIAL CORONATION on my single flowered dormant purples, in hopes of improving both color and substance, and because of its white border, we are breeding it with the edges as well. $200.00